Joe Garlington, who spent more than 20 years as vice president and executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, has joined the advisory board of virtual-reality pioneer SPACES Inc. (Photo: Business Wire)

PLAYA VISTA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Entertainment-industry veteran Ian Richter and former Disney Imagineer
Joe Garlington have joined virtual reality pioneer SPACES Inc. as
members of its advisory board, the company announced today.

As SPACES creates a bold new future in theme parks and attractions,
Garlington and Richter bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in
theme-park and attractions design and intellectual-property development.
Their global perspectives will support SPACES’ mission of fundamentally
reimagining the theme park experience.

Richter most recently served as executive vice president of franchise
and emerging platform development at Legendary Entertainment, and spent
more than seven years at DreamWorks Animation as head of creative
franchise development and franchise executive producer. He has been
involved with such major entertainment projects as Kong: Skull Island,
Trolls, How to Train Your Dragon and The Spectacular
Spider-Man. Richter’s unique experience has encompassed IP
development in live-action and animated film and television, interactive
games, consumer products, VR and augmented reality.

Prior to retiring in 2014, Garlington was the vice president and
executive creative director of Walt Disney Imagineering’s interactive
group, where he led the development of attractions and experiences for
the DisneyQuest indoor theme park, and integrated groundbreaking
technology with iconic Disney theme-park design in such attractions as Toy
Story Mania, Turtle Talk With Crush, the recently refurbished Test
Track and Epcot’s signature Spaceship Earth.

Richter and Garlington join a global advisory board that also includes
Keith Boesky, former president of Eidos Interactive and the principal of
Boesky & Company; Indian superstar and entrepreneur Rana Daggubati, star
of the highest-grossing film in India’s history, Baahubali: The
Beginning; and Dan Offner, attorney, angel investor and former
general counsel for Oculus.

“Achieving our incredible vision requires an incredible team of
advisers, so we could not be happier to welcome Ian and Joe to our
team,” said SPACES CEO Shiraz Akmal. “Ian’s remarkable ability to blend
world-class entertainment with emerging technologies, and Joe’s rich
history with the most legendary name in theme park design, will be
extraordinary assets to SPACES.”

Based in Los Angeles, SPACES takes its name from the base unit of
virtual reality, a “space,” and boasts one of the most accomplished
teams in the VR industry, with artists, designers and programmers from
film, television, video games, visual effects, theme parks and
animation. SPACES is led by CEO Akmal and CTO Brad Herman, both of whom
previously oversaw virtual reality development at DreamWorks Animation.